R I C 



R I D 



the seeds are much less, and brown. It is a na- 

 tive of the West Indies. 



The Green-stalked American Palma Christi, 

 which has a thick herbaceous stem, of a grayish 

 green, with the joints not so far asunder as in 

 the preceding sorts : it rises about four feet high, 

 and is divided at the top into three or four 

 branches, which spread out almost horizontally : 

 the leaves are large, of a deep green on their 

 upper side, but grayish on their under ; they are 

 deeply cut into six or seven (sometimes eight) 

 lanceolate segments, which are unequally serrate: 

 the petioles spread out more horizontally than 

 those of the common sort, and are much short- 

 er: the principal stalk and branches are termi- 

 nated by loose spikes of flowers : the covers of 

 the capsules are green, and closely armed with 

 soft spines : the seeds are smaller and lighter 

 coloured than those of the preceding. It is 

 also a native of the West Indies. 



The Wrinkled-capsuled Palma Christi, which 

 rises with an herbaceous stalk about four feet 

 high : the lower part is purplish, and the upper 

 deep green, the joints pretty far asunder: the 

 leaves are of a deep green on their upper side, 

 but paler underneath ; they are not so deeply 

 divided as some of the others, and are more re- 

 gularly serrate : the spikes of flowers are large : 

 The males have more stamens, with yellow an- 

 thers : the capsules are oval and wrinkled, but 

 have no prickles : the seeds are small and brown. 

 It is a native of both Indies. 



The Red-stalked Palma Christi, which rises 

 with a large reddish stalk to the height of ten or 

 twelve feet, with many joints, and dividing into 

 several branches : the leaves are very large, some 

 measuring more than two feet and a half in di- 

 ameter ; are of a dark green, unequally serrate, 

 and not so deeply cut as in some of the varieties: 

 the spikes of flowers are large, and brown, with 

 whitish anthers : capsules large, oval, and closely 

 set with soft prickles : the seeds are very large, 

 and beautifully striped. It is a native of Africa 

 and both Indies. 



The Small American Palma Christi, of which 

 there are two sub-varieties, one with a red, the 

 other with a pale-green stalk, distinguished in 

 America by the names of Rert and White Oil- 

 seed : the stems seldom rise more than three feet 

 high, sometimes dividing at the top into two or 

 three branches : the leaves are much smaller and 

 more deeply divided than in the other varieties; 

 their borders are unequally serrate, and the seg- 

 ments of the leaves are frequently cut on the 

 sides : the spikes of flowers ate smaller and more 

 compact : the capsules are also smaller, rounder, 

 of a light green, and closely set with soft prickles : 



the seeds small, and finely striped. It is a na- 

 tive of Carolina, &c. 



The Livid-leaved Palma Christi, which is an 

 evergreen tree, ten feet in height, and more : 

 the trunk, during the first year, is blood-red and 

 very shining; afterwards it becomes woody, as 

 thick as the wrist, hollow with transverse septa, 

 pithy, with circular warts at the joints from 

 fallen stipules, ash-coloured, interruptedly and 

 slightly streaked : before the leaves come out, 

 they are wrapped up in red stipules like sheaths, 

 that fall off soon after : the leaves are divided 

 halfway into eight, sometimes ten lobes, which 

 are serrate and acute, and the petiole is long ; 

 they are of a dark blood-red colour on the up- 

 per surface, and livid on the lower, with blood- 

 red veins, the largest less than a foot in diame- 

 ter, quitesmooth, without any hairiness whatever: 

 the fruit of a livid colour, with long soft pric- 

 kles : the seeds shining, variegated with black 

 and brown. It is a native of the East Indies. 



Culture. — These plants are capable of being 

 increased bv seeds, which should be sown upon 

 a hot-bed in the spring, and when the plants are 

 come up, be each planted into a separate pot 

 filled with light fresh earth, and plunged into a 

 fresh hot-bed, watering and shading them until 

 they have taken root ; after which they must 

 have a great share of free air when the season 

 is mild, otherwise they draw up tall and weak. 

 As the plants grow fast, and their roots in a short 

 time fill the pots, they should be shifted into 

 larger pots, filled as above; and about the end 

 ot May, when the season is warm, be hardened 

 to endure the open air by degrees ; when, if 

 some of the plants be shaken out of the pots, 

 and planted out into a very rich border, and in 

 dry weather duly watered, they grow to a large 

 size, and produce a great quantity of flowers and 

 seeds. If it be intended to preserve any of the 

 plants through the winter, they must not be 

 planted out in the full ground, but be shifted 

 into larger pots occasionally, as their roots re- 

 quire, placing them in the open air during the 

 sunimei season in some warm situation, where 

 they may remain until October, when they must 

 be removed into the green-house with other ex- 

 otic plants, watering them sparingly in winter, 

 and admitting free air in mild weather, as they 

 only require to be protected from frost and cold 

 winds. 



They have a fine ornamental effect in their 

 leaves among other potted green-house plants, 

 and also in the large open border or clumps, 

 when cultivated as annuals, but they require 

 room. 



RIDGING of GROUND, the practice of 



